Sewing machine attachment



E. LAKATTA SEWING MACHINE, ATTACHMENT Filed Feb; 25, 1957 Jan. 23, 1962INVENTOR ATTORNEY 3,017,846 SEWING MACHINE ATTACHMENT Edward Lakatta,Wilkes-Barre, Pa., assignor to Harris-Hogan Company, Wilkes-Barre, Pa.Filed Feb. 25, 1957, Ser. No. 642,233 4 filaims. (Cl. 112-114) Thisinvention relates to a sewing machine attachment and more particularlyan attachment for sewing shank buttons to a base material.

While the invention will be described in connection with sewing shankbuttons it is, of course, capable of use with other forms of shankfasteners, such as eyelets, snaps and the like, and it is to beunderstood that it is comprehended that the invention may be used withany article that can be handled by the present attachment.

An object of the invention is to provide a simple, inexpensiveattachment which may be readily attached to conventional sewing machineswithout substantial modification of the machines and which enables shankbuttons to be quickly and easily positioned relative to the path oftravel of the sewing machine needle.

Another object is to provide an attachment which may be secured to thesewing machine bed by unskilled laborers and without the use of specialtools.

A further object is to provide an attachment which will yieldingly holdthe buttons in place so that in the event that the opening in the buttonshank is not exactly in line with the needle during its sewingexcursion, the needle will cam the shank in a transverse direction sothat the needle may pass therethrough without injury to the needle, tothe button or to the attachment.

Another object is to provide means for yieldingly clamping the button inproper position so that in the case of delicate or frangible buttons,they will not be broken or bent during rapid insertion of the buttonsinto position.

Still another object is to provide an adjustment both for the clampingforce applied to the buttons and for one of the clamping members so thatbuttons of various sizes, may be accommodated between the clampingmembers.

Other objects and advantages that are inherent in the structure will bereadily apparent from the following description, it being understood,that variations and modifications thereof may be resorted to so long asthey fall within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

Referring to the accompanying drawing forming part thereof and whichsimilar reference numerals are used throughout the several views.

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of the attachment attached to the bed of asewing machine.

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view.

FIG. 3 is a bottom view.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken on line 4-4 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken on line 5-5 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of one of the clamping arms and itssupporting member and FIG. 7 is a view of one type of shank button whichmay be used with the invention.

In detail there is illustrated a sewing machine bed 10 to which thepresent invention is attached by means of knurled headed screws 11 and12 threaded through openings in a base 13 and into threaded openings inthe machine bed as shown.

Attached to the lower face of the base 13 at the forward end thereof isa vertical plate 14 which extends outwardly beyond the forward edge ofbase 13. At the rear end of plate 14 a rib 15 extends transversely ofthe base 13 and is provided with bearing and guiding surface 16, thepurpose of which will appear hereinafter.

Secured to the plate 14 is a relatively thin, stiff but yielding blade17 which is bifurcated at its forward end fil'ifidh Patented Jan. 23,1362 as at 18 to receive the shank of a button and by using this thinblade it will be obvious that extremely short shanked buttons may beaccommodated as well as buttons in which the hole through the shank isclose to the button head.

The blade 17 is removably secured to the plate 14 by means of a screw 19passing through the blade 17 and threaded into an opening in the plate14 so that other blades may be substituted when desired.

In order that the blade may be in fixed position on the plate 14 andheld against rotation movement around the screw 19 a retaining member 24is provided.

As shown in FIG. 2 the blade 17 at its point of attachment to the plate14 is of the same height as the plate 14 and the retaining member 20 isprovided with upper and lower flanges 21 and 22 embracing the upper andlower edges not only of the blade 17 but of the plate 14 so that pivotalmovement of the blade 17 is prevented and the blade held in properposition at all times.

Cooperating with the blade 17 is a vertically disposed clamping arm 23which is spaced from but substantially parallel with the blade 17. Thisarm extends forwardly of the base 13 to lie behind the bifurcated end ofthe blade 17 so that a button head may be placed between the arm andblade with the button shank extending through the bifurcated end of theblade.

The clamping arm 23 is pivotally mounted and spring biased toward theblade 17 so that buttons may be yieldingly held in proper positionbetween the arm and blade.

To accomplish this pivotal mounting there is provided an arm mountingplate 24 provided with a threaded aperture 25 which is in alignment witharcu'ate slot 26 extending transversely of the base 13 at the forwardend thereof. Passing through the slot 26 and threaded into the aperture25 is a knurled headed screw 27 by means of which the mounting plate 245may be clamped to the underside of the base 13 in any number of adjustedpositions.

The rear end of the mounting plate 24 mates with the surface of the rib15 so that the mounting plate 24 is guided by and bears against itduring adjustment.

The clamping arm 23 is pivoted to the forward end of the mounting plate24 by means of an upwardly extending integral lug 23 extending upwardlyin front of the forward edge of the mounting plate and terminating in ahorizontally extending wing 29 provided with an aperture 341 aligningwith an aperture 31 in the mounting plate for the reception of a pivotscrew 32.

As stated the clamping arm 23 is spring biased toward the blade 17 andthis is accomplished by a wire spring 33 which is clearly shown in FIG.3. This spring consists of a single piece of spring wire to provide ashort leg 34 and a long leg 35 extending forwardly along the clampingarm and terminating in a bent finger engaging a recess 36 in theclamping arm forwardly of the pivot screw 32 and the short leg isprovided with a bent finger 37 extending into an opening 38 in a lug 39secured to the side of the plate 14 by means of a screw 41).

By means of this spring arrangement it will be obvious that the forwardend of the clamping arm is at all times biased to swing about the pivotscrew 32 toward the blade 17 so as to yieldingly hold a button betweenthe arm and shoe. It will also be obvious that if the opening throughthe shank of the button is not exactly in alignment with needle duringits sewing excursion that the shank may be cammed laterally by theneedle in either direction to thereby prevent injury to either theneedle or to the button being sewn.

By means of the adjustment provided by slot 26 and the screw 27 it isclear that the extent of swing of the clamping arm 23 may be adjusted toreceive buttons of various u; sizes and that this adjustment may besimply and quickly made.

The present invention also contemplates means for adjusting the pressureof the clamping arm against the button so that delicate and frangiblebuttons may be used without fear of injury or destruction.

This is accomplished by a combined operating and pressure adjustinghandle 41 which consists of a screw 43 having a knurled head with thescrew threaded through a threaded aperture 43 in the clamping arm 23 infront of the pivot screw 32 and in such position that the inner end ofthe screw may bear, when desired, against the plate 14- as seen in FIGS.3 and 4- so by rotating the handle the pressure of the clamping arm maybe positively set for the desired pressure.

It is also seen since the handle 41 is in advance of the pivot screw 32,a rearwardly directed pull by the finger of the operator will open thethroat between the clamp ing arm and blade for the insertion and removalof buttons and that upon release of the handle the throat size isreduced to grasp the button yielding due to the spring action previouslydescribed.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that the structuredescribed accomplishes all of the stated objects and advantages in asimple, inexpensive and facile manner without bulky or cumbersomeinstrument-alities and without resort to special tools or change in themachines with which it is to be used.

I claim:

1. A sewing machine attachment for sewing shanked fasteners havingsewing apertures therein to a base material comprising a base plateadapted to be secured to the bed of the sewing machine, a blade securedto said plate and projecting forwardly therefrom and having a bifurcatedfreely movable free end for the reception of the shank of said fastener,and a rigid clamping arm pivoted to said base plate and engaging saidfastener and maintaining the shank thereof with the aperture therein inalignment with a sewing machine needle, said blade and arm beingyieldable to resiliently clamp the fastener and permit movement thereoftransversely of the base plate to automatically align the shank apertureand sewing machine needle, said clamping arm being adjustably secured tosaid base plate for movement transversely thereof for varying the spacebetween the arm and blade to accommodate fasteners of various sizes, theadjustment for said clamping arm comprising a mounting plate to whichsaid arm is pivoted, said base being provided with an elongated slotextending transversely thereof, and a clamping screw extending throughsaid slot and threaded into said mounting plate to clamp the mountingplate against said base in any of its adjusted positions.

2. A sewing machine attachment for sewing shanked articles havingapertures therethrough to a base material comprising a base plateadapted to be attached to the bed of a sewing machine, a thin, vertical,flexible blade projecting forwardly from said base plate and having abifurcated freely movable free end for the reception of the shank ofsaid article, a rigid clamping arm carried by said base plate forengaging the head of said article and swingable toward and away fromsaid blade to clamp the head portion of the article therebetween, amounting plate for the clamping arm, means for pivotally mounting thearm on said mounting plate, means for adjustably mounting the mountingplate on the base plate for fixedly positioning the clamping arm pivotat different distances from said flexible blade, and a single springhaving one end engaging the blade and its other end bearing against saidclamping arm forwardly of its pivot to yielding urge the arm toward saidplate.

3. An attachment as set forth in claim 2 in which said vertical blade iscarried by a vertical plate secured to said base plate, and a retainingplate for the blade overlies the blade transversely thereof, a securingbolt passing through the retaining plate and the vertical blade andthreaded into said vertical plate, said retaining plate including flangemeans engaging the edges of the vertical blade and the vertical blade toprevent pivotal movement of the blade relative to said vertical plate.

4. A sewing machine attachment for sewing shanked fasteners havingsewing apertures therein to a base material comprising a base plateadapted to be secured to the bed of a sewing machine, a verticallyextending plate secured to said base plate and having a bearing ribthereon extending transversely of the base plate, a vertical bladesecured to said vertical plate and projecting forwardly therefrom andhaving a bifurcated free end for the reception of the shank of afastener, a mounting plate adjustably secured to said base plate, aclamping arm carried by said mounting plate and extending forwardlytherefrom in proximity to said vertical blade and adapted to engage thehead of a fastener positioned within the bifurcated free end of saidvertical blade for maintaining the sewing aperture in the shank thereofin alignment with the sewing machine needle, said mounting plate havinga transversely extending heel portion engaging said bearing rib, meansfor adjusting said mounting plate on the base plate towards and awayfrom the plane of said vertical plate and means for locking the mountingplate with the clamping arm in any one of a plurality of positions inspaced relation to said vertical blade.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,140,372 Gatchell May 25, 1915 1,931,830 Rich Oct. 24, 1933 2,131,012McCann Sept. 20, 1938 2,781,734 Maxant et al Feb. 19, 1957 FOREIGNPATENTS 23,744 Great Britain Dec. 23, 1892 533,211 Great Britain Feb. 7,1941

